Chapter 2: Me or Her

ONE MONTH LATER

Shandri is already busy as the queen of the country. She had no time in hearing such rumors circulating in the palace. While Nicia, Suzette, and Amira know everything that is happening inside the palace.

While the three of them dressing up the queen, they could not contain it anymore and mentioned it to Shandri.

"Y-your majesty, d-do you perhaps already heard the rumor?" Amira asked hesitantly.

"Rumor? What rumor?" Shandri responded looking at them through the mirror.

Nicia was doing her hair while Suzette and Amira are standing behind her.

"It is a rumor between the princess and his majesty," Suzette replied.

Shandri stares at the mirror and the room is filled with silence for a moment. They are looking intently at her expression through the mirror. Even Nicia stopped for a bit to check.

"I see...," Shandri uttered expecting it would happen.

"Huh?" the three of them in surprise.

"A-are you okay with that, queen?" Nicia is in disbelief.

"Nicia is right, your majesty. Are you okay with that?" Suzette seconded.

"The princess is trying to steal his majesty from you, your majesty!" Amira said in worried with disbelief.

"How could you say those words, Amira?" Shandri remarked.

"B-because the maids in the palace gossiped about it...," Amira speak in a low voice enough to let Shandri hear her.

"They said that they always saw the princess and his majesty together," Suzette backed up.

"A-also, I heard that Princess Elena always visited the king in his office," Nicia speak up.

"Hmmm... I see. They seem quite get close," Shandri answered calmly.

"Your majesty!" / "Queen!" the three of them called out.

"Why are you so calm now, queen?" Nicia whine.

"Right? You must do something before that princess steals the king!" Amira asserted.

"Your majesty, the princess is just a saintess on the outside but on the inside, she is truly a bitch!" Suzette added.

The three of them looked at Suzette.

"Oh my, how vulgar hahaha!" Shandri laughed softly.

"But I agree though..." Amira nodded her head as well as Nicia.

"As the legal wife, I don't want another woman lingering around my husband," Shandri conveyed.

"Right?" the three of them get excited.

"However, it is on the part of the husband. He did not wish to be stolen by another woman, then he could push her away and stay with me. However, if he wishes to be with another woman, no matter how I stopped him he would leave."

"Your majesty..." the three of them saddened.

(His majesty seems do not have feelings towards the queen.)

(It seems that it is only her majesty who is the one holding on.)

(This is sure will be hard on her majesty's part.)

"But your majesty you should at least try to fight for his majesty!" Nicia cheered with determination.

Shandri is a bit surprised by her sudden determination but then she smiled.

"Why of course. I am the queen so why would I give up so easily?" she chuckled.

The three of them brighten up and hug her.

"Kyaaah! We will cheer on you, your majesty!"

"Oh my, then you should do your best in doing so."

"Yes!"

Shandri with her two ladies in waiting and a personal maidservant crossed paths with Elena together with her maidservant.

"Greeting to her majesty, the queen," they lowered their head.

(Shall we start? I bumped into her that means. I should do something right? As a villainess.) Shandri stares at them.

"I heard the rumors around the palace princess," she started.

Elena and her maidservant flinch and raise their head. Elena tried to compose herself and smile.

"Oh my! Is there such thing, your majesty? What is it all about?" she acted surprised and innocent.

(So you want to play it like this...) Shandri snickered in her mind and kept her calm expression. "The rumor is circling you and his majesty."

"Us? Why?" responding impeccably.

"We all know, you are the fitted person to answer that question."

"His majesty and I are just having a friendly conversation, your majesty. There is nothing wrong with it right?" she modestly phrased.

"There is nothing wrong with having a conversation with the king. However, you always seeking the king, is quite unusual isn't right, princess?" Shandri uttered in a cold and indifferent.

"I-I didn't mean to cause misunderstanding. The king is being kind to me because I am a delegate from another country. Maybe he just sympathized with me because our country just ended the war and a few people might not be welcoming me for that reason. Furthermore, I might feel alone since I only have my maidservants with me."

"Interesting..." Shandri muttered enough for them to hear.

Another maidservant came running. "Princess the king is waiting for you at the pavilion already." She gasped and is surprised to see the queen in front of her. "G-greetings to her majesty, the queen."

"Shall we go, princess? The king shouldn't be left waiting." Shandri walked past her.

"Y-yes, your majesty." following her behind.

The two of them arrived at the pavilion where Elena is following Shandri from behind. Nathan looked surprised seeing Shandri arriving in that place.

"You are here, queen."

"Yes, I am your majesty. Am I not allowed to be here?"

"No... I didn't mean it like that."

"I heard that you are waiting for the princess?"

"Ah, yes. We will be having tea. Do you want to join us?"

"Why would I join to a tea where it is supposedly for two persons?" looking at the table where it is prepared for two persons.

"The arrival of the queen isn't expected. Sorry for being inattentive," Nathan apologizes. "Please have another set for the queen."

"No, you don't have to. I am not intending to join." Shandri stopped the maidservant. "I just want to confirm that the king waited for the princess. Now I confirm things, there is no more reason for me to stay."

"Queen, please don't misunderstand this. I am just accompanying our guest."

"What do you mean, your majesty?" she avered.

"I know that there are rumors around the palace. None of them are true."

"You know and you are still acting this way?" Shandri scowled. "None of them are true? Then what are you doing right now? Accompanying our guest?" she said as if it is a ridiculous idea. "Your majesty, do you take me for a fool?"

"Queen, please I don't mean such a thing," Nathan tried to calm her down.

Shandri's calm expression already faded and her sarcastic tone is already noticeable.

"The king is busy and as far as I know it is my part, as the queen, to entertain guests whenever the king is unavailable. My husband is making time for a princess from the other country despite how busy he is! Yet within these five years of our marriage, you did not even approach nor invited me to a tea, your wife, your majesty. Why is that?" she inquired out of mocking curiosity.

"..."

"This is amusing isn't it, your majesty? After two years in our marriage, you went to war for three years. One month has passed but you did not even ask how my days passed by when we didn't see exactly see each other for three years. You never seek me within those two years we got married before you set to war. Howbeit you are willing to wait for this princess? Whom you just brought here from war at that! My husband, the king of this country came back safely from the war bringing a princess with him. A princess whom he treated better than his queen, his wife. Seems like Princess Elena is special for you, your majesty."

"Queen, please don't make things hard."

"Make things hard? Am I the one who is making this hard?"

They suddenly heard sobs behind Shandri. They looked in the direction of the noise and sees Elena crying.

"P-please... hic... don't fight your majesties. I don't want to be the cause of your conflict," she pleaded with a weeping face.

"This is not your fault, princess. It's just... it's just the queen had a few misunderstandings," Nathan consoling the princess.

"Hah! So, this is my fault?" she uttered in disbelief. "You know about the rumors and yet you are still willing to let this princess seek you?"

"She didn't seek me."

"Oh? She didn't seek you but she visited you at your office?"

"She just went because she wanted to talk to someone."

"Is the servants here not a person to talk to? Am I not a person who can be talked to? If she didn't seek you, then are you the one seeking her?"

"Queen, let's talk about this privately."

"All of you leave," Shandri ordered everyone.

Nathan sighed and signaled the maidservants to follow her command. Princess Elena left also together with the servants.

"What is this, Shandri?"

"Nathan, you are ruining this marriage."

"The princess and I, nothing is going between us."

"Then am I supposed to wait that something happened between you two before I could confront you like this?"

"Please don't harass the princess just because of the rumors."

"And now you are saying that I am harassing her? How can you even say that to my face when you never witnessed anything nor heard."

"The way I see how the princess is terrified by following you. It seems something happened already before you got here."

"Hah! Unbelievable!" Shandri looked amused. "You are now protecting another woman in front of your wife? Not just that, you even doubted your own wife and the queen of this empire seeing that a princess, you brought from war is trembling behind me? Just you know, your majesty. I am more shocked to hear from a servant rushing to the princess, merely saying that you are waiting for her. Did you even wait for me, your majesty? Even once? You couldn't even wait for me to prepare myself early in the morning to see you off to war. For goodness sake, you will leave not knowing if you are coming back yet you left like as if you didn't leave someone here. How can you be so considerate to her yet strange to me?"

"I am..."

"You are what?" she sneers. "I only realize now that you have a considerate personality, your majesty. Should I thank the princess for that?"

Nathan couldn't say anything. (This is not the first she acted like this. However, she has never been so direct with me.)

"I am not here as the queen but as your legal wife, Nathan."

Nathan caught surprised by her words.

"If you are being like this then choose."

"What?"

"Divorce me if you want that woman. If not, send that woman to me. I will take care of her."

Nathan finds himself distraught.

"I will not be the one who will divorce you. I want you to be the one to end this everything. In that way, I will rest assured that you will not chase after me nor feel guilt."

"This..."

"I will be waiting for the divorce paper to be sent to me. If you couldn't do that, then I will be the one, to give you the divorce paper and all you have to do is to keep it."

"Queen, let's calm down and talk okay?"

"I am already done talking. The envoy will be hereafter another two months. Then I will prepare everything slowly what is needed."

Shandri turned around and is about to leave. Nathan stands up and caught her hand to stop her.

"Shandri, please... I am sorry."

"You can't let me go because you know how competent I am as a queen. You know that marrying me will show your power in sitting on the throne. I know that you are stopping me because if I walked away and leave you everything will change."

Nathan's jaw constricts and holds her hand tightly.

"Shandri..." Nathan hugged her from behind.

"Don't be greedy, your majesty. You could not have me stay just because of your political reason and keeping another lady for the reason you got interested in her."

Nathan hugs her tightly and leans on her shoulder. Shandri's servants are holding their squeal. They could only see what is happening but could not hear anything that the couple is talking about.

"You are interested in her. Then, do what you wanted. After all, you never once said to me that you cared for me. Nevertheless, I would not promise that I would not show my rights to put her in her rightful place. Not as the queen but as your wife."

Shandri pulls away from his hands that surrounded her waist and walk away. Nathan is left alone looking devastated.